Thill or tongue support.



No. 684,393. KK Patented out. a, |90. c. A. BENKERT.

THILL 0R TUNGUE' SUPPORT.

(Application med June 5, 1900.)

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

CHARLES A. BENKERT, OF DAVENPORT, IOVA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO EDVARD J. SPINK, OF SAME PLACE.

THILL OR TONGUE SUPPORT.

SPECIFCATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 684,393, dated October 8, 1901.

Application tiled June 5,1900. Serial No. 19.145. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, it 71mg] concern:

Beit known that l, CHARLES A. BENKERT, a citizen of the United States, residing lat Davenport, in the county of Scott and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Thill or Tongue Support, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a novel thill or tongne'support for vehicles,the object in view being' to provide a simple and inexpensive device which may be quickly and conveniently applied to a vehicle for the purpose of holding the thills or tongue in an elevated position in order to economize spacefor instance, in a carriagehouse- A further object of the invention is to provide the prop or supporting-bar, which holds the thills, with a retaining-hook, the shank ot' which is passed through the supportingbar edgewise to bring the strain incident to the support of the thills edgewise ot' the bar and to prevent material weakening of the latter by the embedding in its rear edge of a nut or bushing, through which the shank is adjustable for the purpose of adjusting the retaining-hook to tit vehicle-axles or axle-beds of various sizes.

To the accomplishment of these ends the invention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts, which will be herein described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and detined in the appended claim.

In said drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of the front end of a vehicle, showing my support retaining the thills in an elevated position. Fig. 2 is a perspective view, ou a somewhat enlarged scale, of a portion ot the bar; and Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation showing the manner of mounting the retaininghook upon the bar, one of the adjusted positions of the hook being shown in dotted lines.

Referring to the numerals of reference employed to designate corresponding parts in the several views, l indicates the front axle of a vehicle, 2 the thills coupled thereto, and 3 the cross-bar, which connects the thills at a point adjacent to their coupled'ends.

4 indicates the supporting-bar of my device, which is of oblong cross-sectional contourthat is to say, it is a slat ot wood defined by narrow longitudinal edges and somewhat more extensive side faces. This bar is disposed to receive the cross-bar 3 of the thills against one edge and is retained in its upright position bya retaining-hook 5, engaging the rear face of the axle-bed l', and having a right-angularly disposed threaded shank 6 passed through an aperture '7, extending edgewise through the bar 4, and opening at one end into a parallel-sided nut-retaining recess S, cut into the rear edge 9 of the bar for the reception ot a fixed nut or bushing l0, preferably ot' rectangular form and fitting snugly in the recess 8 to be held against rotation between the walls of the latter. The lower end of the supporting-bar 4 engages the front face of the aXlebed.

11 indicates a lock-nut screwed upon the end of the shank 6 and against the front edge of the bar 4 for the purpose of retaining the hook 5 in its adjusted positions.

That part of the bar 4 between the nuts l0 and ll forms a compressible filling, which exerts a reactionary pressure against the locknut and prevents it from turning oft the shank of the hook.

The hook 5 may be and preferably is covered with a rubber or other non-abrasive sleeve l2 to prevent disigurement of the polished surfaces of the vehicle and is disposed substantially parallel with the edge 9 of the bar 4 to clamp the latter securely against the front faces ot` the axle and thill cross-bar. Particular attention is directed to the fact that the hook is adjustable to accommodate its attachment to axles of any size, so that the device may be applied to vehicles of different classes, and that the piercing of the bar 4 in an edgewise direction by the shank 6 presents the weight of the thills edgewise upon the har and enables me to recess the bar for the reception of the nut lO without materially weakening the bar, as would be the case if the nut-retaining recess was formed in one of the side faces thereof. It should be noted further that the adjustment of the hook is obtained by employing it as ahandle with which to rotate the threaded shank 6, which is retained securely in its adjusted positions by the lock-nut 1l.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have produced a simple and ingenious thill IOO or tongue support for vehicles, comprising a bar, a shank provided With a hook at one end, anda pair of nuts for adjustably securing the shank upon the bar, these elements being grouped in a novel manner which renders the complete device exceedingly durable and readily adjustable; but I of course reserve the right to eect such modifications as may be embraced within the scope ofthe following claim.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secu re by Letters Patent, 1s-

A device of the class described, consisting of the supporting-bare adapted to engage the cross-bar of the thills or tongue against one edge, said supporting-bar having the retaining-recess 8 cut into its rear edge 9 ata point intermediate of its ends, the lower end of said supporting-bar being adapted to engage the front face of the axle-bed and an aperture 7 extending edgewisc through said bar to the recess S, the nut or bushing l0 mounted in said recess S and held against rotation, the threaded shank G passing through the aperture 7 and screw-seated in the nut o r bushing 10, the lock-nut ll screwed upon the shank Y CHARLES A BENKERT.

` Witnesses:

O. A. FICKE, FRANK BALLUFF. 

